RUSTON -
Louisiana Tech has released the 2008 men's and women's cross country schedule along with the 2009 indoor and outdoor track and field schedules as the upcoming seasons approach.

"We're very excited about our upcoming schedules," Tech head coach Gary Stanley said. "Our cross country teams have good schedules preparing for the conference championships, while our indoor and outdoor schedules continue our tradition of competing at some of the most prestigious meets in the country. And we're certainly appreciative to the university for all the hard work done to get a new track and field complex that will host the 2009 Jim Mize Tech Twilight Meet during the outdoor season."

Men's and women's cross country will start off with a home meet in Lincoln Parish Park in Ruston, La., for the annual Mook 4 Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 13. The teams will then travel north to Little Rock, Ark., for an Arkansas-Little Rock Invitational the following weekend.

The Lady Techsters will then go to a competition at Northwestern State Sept. 29, while both teams will be back in action Oct. 4 with the Bulldogs heading to Auburn, Ala., and the Techsters going to Centenary in Shreveport, La. The Bulldogs will have one more meet before the 2008 WAC Championships in Las Cruces, N.M., at Arkansas on Oct. 18.

The indoor season will lead off with Tech heading to Lexington, Ky., for the Kentucky Invitational Jan. 17 and continues with a Jan. 24 meet in Fayetteville, Ark., for the 2009 Tyson Invitational. Tech will then head south to the Bayou Bengal Invitational in Baton Rouge on Jan. 31 and then to College Station, Texas, Feb. 14 for a Valentine's Day meet at Texas A&M. That will be the final meet before the 2009 WAC Indoor Championships in Boise, Idaho, and the NCAA Championships in College Station.

Tech heads back to the Snowbird Invitational in Tallahassee, Fla., to open the outdoor season Mar. 20-21. The Jim Mize Tech Twilight meet will resume this season after a one-year hiatus on the brand new track Mar. 28 in Ruston, which will lead to the 2009 Texas Relays the following weekend. Tech will then travel to Baton Rouge for two consecutive weekends before heading to Des Moines, Iowa, for the prestigious Drake Relays.

Tech's final meet before the 2009 WAC Championships in Logan, Utah, will be the UTA Open in Arlington, Texas. Tech will then prepare for the NCAA Regionals May 29-30 and the NCAA Championships June 11-14.